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Reba: Can you explain what the Mr Eagle competition is?ĭerek Yes so it’s not something new, it’s been happening for a long time, the original Eagle had Mr Eagle, but it was sporadic. Also we are getting a much younger crowd and that’s good as we aren’t changing for them, they are changing to suit our venue, even the leather guys are hyped about bringing new people into the community, they can teach them about the culture and it’s important for young people to have that sense of history. So we’ve made some changes, we don’t generally allow djs on the roof anymore as they are too loud and then if we get too many noise complaints then we’ll start getting in trouble. Well the reason it moved from 21st Street is because of that, we’re on 28th Street now and our street is now being gentrified, when we moved here it was really a destination to come here, now it’s totally changed, there’s now a 9oo strong residential unit opposite us, they look right onto our roof deck. Reba: Have you had problems with gentrification like we have in London, many bars have been closed down, has this ever effected the Eagle? Reba: I love The Eagle in Vauxhall in London, but where are the other Eagle bars?ĭerek: There are about seventy Eagles in the world, but we are the original and the best! We are proud of it. Everyone has a different idea of what the bar is, for the most part everyone loves The Eagle, you never know what you’re going to see any given day. Here we’ve embraced the entire kink community, there are people here into facial hair, diapers, paddles and whips, whatever, just a place where everyone can come and feel safe and secure. When I opened the Eagle I had a battle with the old school leather guys who were saying this isn’t a leather bar and I’m saying, I never said it was a leather bar, it’s a bar for people who are into masculine stereotypes, but that argument falls on deaf ears as these guys have a big nostalgia for the 70s. Everybody calls it a leather bar, but it really wasn’t a leather bar, it wasn’t just guys wearing leather, it was western gear, the construction look, it was village people.
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Jack who owned the Eagle at that time, then had to move and I took it over, it’s been here since 1970, it has a huge rich history, it’s a leather bar, there was no leather bar before it. Reba: When did you start the Eagle? Why did you want to start this club?ĭerek: I opened up in 2001, I have a history with the Eagle, it is why I moved to New York. Tattooer Tamara Santibanez and Jason Schell also joined us for the conversation.
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A space of total community and celebration pioneering the way forward for this particular lifestyle as well as being prolific in their system of fundraising for LGBT communities. Opening in 1970, the bar has been a home to a kind of raw, gay masculinity like no other. While in New York last month, I met with Derek Danton to have coffee and discuss Derek’s work as the owner of the world’s most important leather bar The Eagle.